Hot Rod Magazine & the Mk3 Roadster
It All Started with a Roadster... More Than One!
 
Four UTI campuses, and four different Challenge Cars, Hot Rod Magazine July 2006
 

The '33 has been garnering the lion's share of press lately, in large part due to the excellent series of build-up and road test articles in Hot Rod Magazine.  A lot of folks may not know that our relationship with Hot Rod Magazine goes back quite a ways... and it all started with the original, world's best selling Factory Five Mk3 Roadster.

The first time Hot Rod Magazine readers heard about Factory Five was in 2005 when a three-part build-up series was done on the Mk3 Roadster.  The guys from Muscle Car Restorations ordered a kit and built a highly customized of the best selling Factory Five.  Car designer Murray Pfaff penned the lines to this sleek project car code named Project Sidewinder.  The first issue ran in October 2005 focusing on the custom engine and drivetrain.  The second issue in November covered the build-up and the December issue took the car to the track.  The story "Home Built Brutality" chronologed this effort. 

 


With a 427 ci small block (stroked 351W) pumping out 441 HP and 424 lb-ft of torque, the Hot Rod Magazine
project Roadster was well powered.  Drag times were 60 ft in 1.63 seconds(!!) and mid 11 passes.
 
Following the tremendous interest generated by the Roadster build project, Hot Rod Magazine along with Quaker State Oil invited us to participate in the Q Collegiate Challenge wherein four UTI campuses competed against each other in building versions of our race Roadster on a similar budget.  The July 2006 issue detailed this remarkable competition and featured each of the four cars in detail.